While Britain Faces Economic Crisis, Ministers Are To Give £330million To Help Africa Deal With Climate Change

By Cynthia Taylor

- One of the major beneficiaries will be South Africa

- The funds are to be pledged ahead of the UN Summit in Durban

Chris Huhne has said that £330million is pledged to Africa to improve access to lower carbon energy in Africa’s Developing countries.

Millions of taxpayers’ money will be poured into Africa for them to cope with the impact of climate change

This handout of £330 million is to be spent on schemes to install solar plants as well as encouraging investments in low carbon transportation over the next four years.

South Africa is one of the main beneficiaries; this is a country that is sufficiently prosperous to have its own space agency.

Mr. Huhne, Lib Dem’s energy secretary is to unveil this foreign aid package at the UN summit, on climate change which will open today in Durban.

This largesse will fuel criticism from Tory backbenchers about promises made by David Cameron to increase UK spending on aid at a time when people in Britain are facing swinging cuts.

Tory MO for Shipley, Phillip Davies, said that it’s unjustifiable for the government to spend so much money when they were reducing the police force in this country.

Peter Bone, fellow Tory MP, said what makes things worse is a large portion of the aid budget will be spent on things that are not going to benefit the developing countries. He said that the money would be used for trade not aid.

Government is pulling in different directions in regards to the environment policy, when George Osborne announces tomorrow that the Treasury is to offer £250m towards tax breaks to companies that are hit by climate change policies.

Mr. Huhne will use the Autumn Statement which is effectively a ‘mini budget’ to help energy intensive companies such as, steel and aluminum and cement manufacturers, who will be given a 95% relieve from the climate change levies and also millions of pound to offset the new carbon levies Mr. Osborne says that the UK should not seek to be the leader in the world in the cutting of carbon emissions, and that he is not prepared to see British Businesses bankrupt by them being put in a competitive disadvantage.

Mr Huhne is going ahead with the spending of taxpayers’ money in the promotion of green policies in other parts of the world.

At the UN climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, Mr. Huhne is expected to announce the aid will go towards several anti-climate change schemes. Some of which are to African farmers towards protection of their crops against drought and flooding, building slurry pits for the production of gas for generators, and installation of solar panels in villages.

Other projects to get cash are illegal logging in the tropical forests, and Ethiopia and Rwanda will also benefit

It is unknown whether the money will be going straight to the governments or if it will be channeled through charities and companies.

An allocation of £282.5million has already been earmarked for foreign climate change projects. And next week millions more will be allocated to the climate change project in Africa by the year 2015

Critics last night questioned whether this large amount of money should be used in Africa where there is a history of aid money disappearing as a result of corruption. Only last week, an independent watchdog has found that this rapid expansion of UK’s international aid programme is highly vulnerable to fraud.

The president of the International Policy Network, Julian Morris, said that Mr. Huhun’s announcement could be viewed as a ‘bribe’. He continued that the timing is a ‘cynical move’ by the UK government, that it suggests that this is a bribe to get African government to ‘sign up’ to deals that Britain wants them to sign up for in Durban.

It’s more than likely the money will go to the foreign government and little will be done to improve the situation for the poor.

The government should not be increasing aid to Africa but should be freezing such aid, said Robert Oxley, Tax Payers Alliance. He said that the government should instead of throwing money away on programmes that deliver any real substance and on corruption, the aid should be targeting the poorest of the poor people of the world, he said they needs UK’s heap more.

Spokesperson for Mr. Huhne DECC would not confirm the total amount, however he did say that it was not ‘new’ money, and that it would be drawn from the 2.9billion that is fully-funded International Climate Fund.